The Social Side Of Riding.

As some of you know, i have recently changed career paths and now teach and licence motor cyclists. Part of the job is to discuss with the class , why they want to ride. Most say for fun, convienience ,cost etc, but not many realise at first, the social aspect of riding. Park your car at the shops next to another car at the same time and you both get out , walk off and ignore each other. If two bikes pull up to park at the same time, you generally spend the next 10 minutes chatting with a complete stranger about their bike, where they are off to and what you both used to ride.
The same happens at service stations. When was the last time you talked to the person filling up next to you? On the bike, i have had some great conversations at the bowser. I've been a member of CCC for 5 or 6 years and have made some great friends on here,from all over the world. Some i've met in person and some not. One, in particular, Karen and i consider as close as any blood relative we have ( more so than some LOL ).and that is all because we met through motorcycles. The Doctor and the factory worker, the truck driver and the teacher... these are people that may never usually get together and chat, but it doesn't matter what you do as an occupation, riding tends to make it irrelevant .
For something that in general is an isolated activity ( unless you have a pillion ), you certainly get to meet lots of people.

Tony such true words, and no I didn't know about your career path change but I'm thrilled for you and also envious at the same time. I'd love a change and to be involved in motorcycles would be a dream job , well done mate and nice knowing you can make a difference with new riders.

Riding is all I think about and it makes it hard to concentrate on the job I'm in now as all I want to do is ride, it's so addictive.

Spot on Tony , I too have made some great friends here on this site and have even managed to catch up with an old Primary School buddy , Spratty . If we hadn't got back into bikes and found this site I might have never cought up with him ever . Love the site and love my cruiser with a passion .

TWS..........I agree completely !!
Once , while riding the major highway 401 home from my g/fs , I stopped for gas and a smoke. Next thing I knew I was standing there with a member of a 1%er bike club , just shootin the breeze. Seemed like a hell of a nice guy. It was kinda odd when his 3 buddies, all "outlaw" bikers , pulled up I figured I'd better go. Prison guards and outlaws don't generally mix well...............LOL
I constantly have people coming up and asking about my bike when I'm parked . A LOT of people ask to take pictures of my bike and I'm quite flattered by that.
The local coffee shop , Tim Hortons , here, is a great place to meet with other bikers. On any given night after 7pm , you'll find anywhere from 2-20 , maybe even 30 or 40 bikes there. It's an eclectic group for sure , but for the most part, a very friendly gathering.

Until I met Sapito almost three years ago, I didn't know about this feeling of brotherhood. At that time, he only had the HD, but after he got the KZ1000, I realized that it's not just among Harley riders. It's almost a motorcycle subculture, in which you make friends fast. There are no strangers, only friends that you haven't met and talked with yet. It's a beautiful expression of love for fellow human kind, manifested and brought about by motorcycle ownership/ridership. ♡

Pretty much spot on TWS. The only other place you get an affiliation through a common interest is in the military. i guess this is why I feel so comfortable around all bike riders. Even at my new job, all the bike riders have connected with me and often the topic at lunch is bikes

I guess I do know of another, similar, subculture, and that would be truck drivers. But with all the new people being run through the trucking schools, and the old hands retiring or otherwise leaving the industry, the sense of family/community there is disintegrating. Not like it once was out there.

So true. The other day I took the Bird to the post office and a lady around 50 walked by me and said beautiful bike. I asked her if she rode. She replied she use to but not anymore as "she was self employed". As I was getting ready to pull away a guy walks up and comments on the bike and we chatted for probably 15 minutes about bike comparisons.
It is really unusual to even to get someone to say hi or acknowledge you when you are walking by each other on the street (talking not a steady stream of pedestrians, but the occasional person).

Very well said, Tony! You hit the nail right on the head with your observations! A lot of good comments from others here too. Yes, I think there is definitely a "subculture" of motorcyclists - and it doesn't matter what walk of life, what country, what social standing or what bike you ride. As long as you ride, you "get it", and you know that makes everyone else who rides, worth talking to. (and becoming friends with!)